Taino Smokehouse hosts barbecue cook-off state championship

State championship cookoff was held to honor Indigenous Peoples’ Day

Middletown resident Chris Szewczyk, shown in this file photo, is owner of Taino Smokehouse at 482 South Main Street in Middletown.

Middletown resident Chris Szewczyk, shown in this file photo, is owner of Taino Smokehouse at 482 South Main Street in Middletown.

Photo: Catherine Avalone — The Middletown Press

Photo: Catherine Avalone — The Middletown Press

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Middletown resident Chris Szewczyk, shown in this file photo, is owner of Taino Smokehouse at 482 South Main Street in Middletown.

Middletown resident Chris Szewczyk, shown in this file photo, is owner of Taino Smokehouse at 482 South Main Street in Middletown.

Photo: Catherine Avalone — The Middletown Press

Taino Smokehouse hosts barbecue cook-off state championship

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MIDDLETOWN >> Taino Smokehouse owner Chris Szewczyk is off on a cross-country drive to taste barbecue. It’s not the first time.

Szewczyk, who grew up in the Wesleyan Hills section of the city, co-owns Taino with his wife Jenny, whom he met in New York eight years ago. In 2010, the couple took a three-week road trip across the country, and “fell in love” with barbecue in the process, said Szewczyk.

They opened their restaurant nearly two years ago.

Taino Smokehouse hosted its first Indigenous Peoples’ Day BBQ Cook-off State Championship on Oct. 10-11 at its Middletown location. “It was our first official Kansas City Barbeque Society-certified competition,” said Szewczyk, who plans to host the event every Columbus Day weekend, expecting to continue to draw crowds of music and food lovers from all over the county to Middletown, he said.

Other KCBS-certified events are Ridgefield Gone Country BBQ Festival and Blues and the Views and BBQ (Competitor’s Series) in Westport.

Indigenous Peoples’ Day is celebrated as an alternative to Columbus Day in the United States. This year, Seattle and Minneapolis were among cities that marked the day with festivities that honor Native Americans.

“When Columbus first came in 1492, Taino tribe was the first he encountered. They were smoking their foods” like fish, turtles and birds, said Szewczyk, who wants to “hijack” the holiday.

When naming the restaurant, the Szewczyks reached back into American history to the Taino natives that Columbus encountered on his first transocean voyage, who cooked meat on a “barbacoa,” a word that has since been transmuted into “barbecue,” said Szewczyk.

“This tribe responsible for BBQ ... it was Columbus who wiped out all of them, about two million of them.”

This year Gov. Dannel P. Malloy even issued a proclamation for the Middletown State Championship on Oct. 11.

About 60 people, representing 15 teams, cooked outdoors overnight in the restaurant’s parking lot, located at 482 South Main St. Competitions offered more than $5,000 in prize money. Barbecue contenders faced off in three categories — wings, brisket and ribs.

Two of the competing teams were among the nationally ranked Top 40 of 4,500 teams across country, said Szewczyk.

Szewczyk is pleased with how the business has grown so far. The model has been such a success, he’s currently scouting for a second location, he said.

About 500 people showed up for the state championship event, held on one of the most popular event dates this fall. Though Taino has drawn up to 1,000 people at past events, competition from the Hartford Marathon, Southington Apple Harvest Festival and other seasonal fun may have had an impact.

Taino’s menu features plenty of slow-smoked meats, southern and traditional side dishes and a creatively unconventional wings menu which features smoked wings.

The Smokehouse uses wood from white oak and hickory trees, as well as fruitwoods from Lyman Orchards, to stoke the wood-fire grill and the smokers, said Szewczyk.

In 2013, the restaurant threw a Columbus Day cook-off with cooking and eating competitions, carnival-style attractions and an appearance from Rocky the Rock Cat, the New Britain minor-league baseball mascot. Barbecue contenders faced off in three categories — wings, brisket and ribs.